Airbike on Barnstormers

This Airbike is listed on Barnstormers for $8500. I love the yellow, but don't need another plane.

Photos Chris Took on Sunday

All Day Flying

Finally got a chance to fly again. I was planning on a short flight, but as my wife will tell you, that rarely happens. As I was getting the plane ready, I could hear Jimmy sanding away on some wings he's been working on. He's one of those guys who really enjoys his work - rebuilding wings for older planes. It was cold, but I had my motorcycle gloves and winter overalls.

I went up for about 30 minutes and when my toes and fingers were frozen I headed back. I buzzed Wayne's house and his son Ben came out and drove to my field. He and Jimmy had told me about a guy, Chris, that had a powered parachute. Shortly after, he and his wife showed up. Chris set up his plane, which entails running up the engine and then attaching and laying out the parachute.

After they took off, I took off and flew around them for awhile. Got some good air-to-air shots. It's always nice to fly with someone else.

I'll write more later, but to make it short I flew four times today - twice with Chris. I ended up flying circles around him as I stall around 30mph and that's his cruise! It was still fun though. Enjoy the photos:

Before flying.


After all of the rain, there's a lot of water.


I scared these cows. I try not to, but did it twice today!


After the first flight.


Ben watching as Chris prepares to fly.


Taking Off


Smoke System


More Smoke

Winter Blues

If it isn't windy, it's raining. If it isn't raining, it's icy. We don't have a very rough winter in Central Texas, but it's just not good ultralight flying weather. I went to the field last weekend and cleaned the plane. It was a cool, calm day and I'd hoped to fly. With all of the rain we've had though there was a small pond in the middle of the runway. I walked out to check it and quickly found that my new shoes are designed to let a lot of air flow through them. Where air will flow, so will water, so I made the walk back to my plane with squishy socks.

It was probably solid enough, but after cleaning the plane, I didn't really want to run it through a large puddle and the wind was picking up anyway.

Today, I'm stuck at work, but it's predicted to be a nice day tomorrow. If I fly, I will have to take a lot of pictures to remind myself of how much fun flying is! Seems like it's been forever.

Since I don't have any new photos of my own, I thought I'd show some pic of other Airbikes:

Haven't had a chance to fly much lately. Over the Thanksgiving weekend, I took a couple of my uncles out to see the plane. I demo'd it for them. It was fairly windy though, so I just took off, circled and returned. I took off with the same dog on the runway and had to fly past him before landing. Gotta love it! Luckily this plane lands in a very short distance.

Keep checking back, I hope to do some flying soon.

Nice Fall Saturday

Usually if I don't get to fly first thing in the morning, it doesn't happen. The wind usually picks up as well as the temperature. Today, though, I went to work and when I came out at noon, it was a beautiful, calm day. It was 75 and absolutely no wind.

As you've seen in previous posts, my EGTs have been running high. I adjusted the needle and added a little oil to my gas mixture and wanted to try it out. I did an unusually long run-up to make sure everything was okay. I put on my seatbelt and helmet, checked my helmet one more time to make sure it was tight, looked to make sure the dogs weren't on the runway and pushed the throttle to the limit. I was off in no time and I knew I had picked a great day. I circled the field a couple of times to make sure everything was okay. If I reduced or increased my throttle from my normal cruise RPM the temps were fine. I will still need to get a new needle, but it was okay for today.

I quickly grew tired of circling the field, so I headed West toward Florence. It's a small town just west of Georgetown. I circled the town a few times, waving at people and then headed back toward my field. I decided I would climb for awhile. I reached about 5,000 feet and it was very cold. I would fly with one hand and then switch off. I quickly reached the field, so I decided I would fly up and down I-35 for awhile.

I was still high, so I flew a wide, long pattern and as I lined up on final, I noticed something on the runway. I decided to land a little long and sure enough it was one of the big black dogs that lives there. He never even moved! I had a nice landing and laughed at a car that was driving next to the field when I landed. I don't think he expected something to drop out of the sky!

All in all, a good day. Nice to be in the air again.

This field actually looked blurry, it's not the photo!


Looking back.








My field.


Wayne's house and runway.


A couple of tractor shots for Robert Laird!

High EGTs

After talking with a few UL pilot's with more experience than me, I decided to try moving my gauges back to their original location. I was told vibration can cause a bad reading in the EGT gauge or that I might have pinched a wire when moving them. After moving them, I took off and circled the field a few times. No luck, they looked the same. I then decided to try adjusting the needle. It was in the second to lowest position, so I moved it to the bottom notch. This helped a little, but I think I'll have to try a different needle and maybe even rejet it. I flew it over to Wayne's house (maybe 3 miles) and then returned. Good news is that I got into the air, bad news is I still have work to do.

I'll keep you posted!

Fair Weather Flying

I couldn't stand it any longer... I had to leave work early (after only 9 hours!). It was calm, 82 degrees and it hasn't been like that for awhile. I did my normal preflight and changed the plugs and then I was off. I've had a little trouble with landings lately and I think I finally figured it out. I thought back to my tailwheel training many years ago and I could hear my instructor telling me to get the stick back into my gut. As I was setting up on final, I kept reminding myself to flare low to the ground and upon touching down to get the stick back. It worked flawlessly. Even as I would bounce a little, the plane would settle right in. It worked for 6 landings, now let's see if I can keep it up.

Now that I can land again, I have to address the fact that my EGTs (Exhaust Gas Temperatures) are climbing. They're now hitting 1200 and around 1175. This is not good. I'm going to try adjusting the carb needle, but if that doesn't work, I will have to tear the engine down and check it out. It could need to be decarbed, but doesn't really have enough hours. The fun of owning your own plane!!!

Breakaway Park Fly-in

Breakaway Park, a fly-in community in Cedar Park had their annual fly-in yesterday. It was too windy for me to fly and I think a few other pilots were wishing they hadn't flown either. There were more than a few scary landings! I haven't been able to fly to a fly-in yet, but I've got another shot next month.